Ex-AFL star Wayne Carey involved in pub altercation
Former AFL star Wayne Carey was reportedly embroiled in a heated confrontation outside the Albert Park Hotel on Thursday evening. Exclusive footage obtained by the Herald Sun shows Carey, 54, in an argument with two other men that escalated from inside the Albert Park Hotel onto the street around 8 pm.
Sources indicate the incident ignited after a man, wearing a black backpack, allegedly directed an insult at Carey while in the pub.
Carey told the ZHerald Sun he had a history with the individual in question. “Unfortunately, there are antagonists who target you based on your experiences as a has-been footballer. This individual is a serial harasser — and he chose to repeat his behaviour through vile and obscene slurs, again, last night,” Carey said.
The footage reportedly shows Carey grasping the man by his shirt sleeve, while another voice can be heard interjecting, “Wayne, Wayne, relax.” Subsequently, that same voice is heard yelling at the man with the backpack to “f--k off” and to “shut the f--k up and go.” A female voice then intervenes, urging, “Guys, walk away, people live here,” adding, “Keep walking … move it on.”
The man is believed to have been harassing the former AFL great for over six months. A source close to Carey indicated that the same man was ejected from the venue on Oaks Day eve last year for similar conduct.
An eyewitness recounted that the man entered the Albert Park Hotel and began yelling and antagonising Carey. The tense interaction reportedly occurred moments after Carey was observed in a friendly embrace with controversial journalist Dylan Howard, former editor-in-chief of the US tabloid the National Enquirer. Howard was previously implicated in a hush money plot to allegedly bury scandalous stories to assist President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
An Albert Park resident, who witnessed the beginning of the incident from an outdoor table at the pub, described the situation as having “got a bit ugly” after Carey and the man were heard shouting inside. “We could hear there was an altercation of some sort,” she said.
She further stated, “The security guards were saying to Carey and to this guy in a backpack: ‘Hey guys, calm down, take it outside, move on, you know, just calm down’.” The resident added, “Carey turned on him after that. The guy in the backpack kept on coming back at Carey, trying to inflame the situation more and more. It just went on and on.”
The resident claimed that Carey and the man were engaged in a confrontation for approximately 20 minutes, moving across the road to Bridport Street and back before another man attempted to separate them. “Eventually the guy in the backpack just decided after a bit of pushing and shoving, to go in one direction and Carey went in the other direction.”
Jonathan Jackson, 9th June 2025
